Search Results

During your regular, routine dental check-up, you will usually get your teeth cleaned, maybe get some updated x-rays or other diagnostics, and after a quick check, you’ll get the all-clear from your dentist (we hope). However, sometimes your dental team will need extra images and your dentist may take a closer look at every last detail about your oral health. What’s the difference between a routine periodic exam and a comprehensive dental examination? WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE EXAM? A comprehensive exam is a detailed, thorough assessment of your systemic and oral health to create a complete list of present and potential concerns. Typically, this type of exam will happen the first time you meet a dentist. However, it may also be appropriate to do a comprehensive examination if there has been a long gap in your care at that practice, or if there has been a major change in your health that might require building a new plan for your best care. HOW IS A COMPREHENSIVE EXAM DIFFERENT FROM A REGULAR EXAM? Your routine periodic dental health check, which usually happens as part of your cleaning appointments, is a good way for your dentist to keep a close eye on your oral health and stay alert to changes. A comprehensive exam is how your dental team creates the baseline to which they will compare those future changes. At a comprehensive exam, your dental team will take extra time going over your full-body health. They will need a full report of your ongoing medical concerns and your medication list. This will be updated at future appointments, but establishing your full medical history is an important step in building the best care for your oral health. The dentist will also take extra time at a comprehensive exam to sit and talk with you about any and all concerns you may have. This not only gives you a chance to get to know each other, but it puts you on the same page so that your care plan aligns with your needs. Many of the tasks in a comprehensive exam are similar to what happens at a regular exam. For example, Dr. Anderson will check for cavities, cracks, and old restorations that may need repairs. However, as this will be the first time he meets your teeth, he will also build a chart to describe your teeth as they currently exist. The team will mark fillings you’ve already had, or any issues that were present before you came in. They may need to talk to you about the history of old injuries or infections to get a full picture of your oral health. A COMPREHENSIVE EXAM AT YOUR FIRST VISIT MAY INCLUDE EXTRA IMAGES The best way to get a full picture of your oral health includes imaging such as x-rays. While you should get check-up x-rays regularly as part of your oral health routine, imaging at a comprehensive exam will be more thorough. The check-up x-rays, called bitewings, only look between the back teeth to check for cavities, tartar, and the level of your bone. However, a full mouth series of x-rays is usually taken at a comprehensive exam, and every few years after that. The full series shows the back and front teeth from top to bottom. This allows your dental team to check for hidden infections and root problems. These images also look at the health of the ligaments that hold your teeth in place and give information the check-up images usually don’t have.

Brushing our teeth is one of those basic skills we all learn as children. Once in the morning, once before bed, and maybe even throw some floss in every once in a while. (Okay, we can get into that later.) As much as you may think you’re doing a great job with your oral home care basics, a toothbrush is a surprisingly technique sensitive instrument. Many people go their whole lives without really knowing how to use one of the most ubiquitous tools in their self-care arsenal. However, here at Anderson Family Dental, we believe good patient education is the key to great oral health. So here are the top five ways you can really get the most out of your twice-daily brushing. 1. USE SOFT BRISTLES Choosing the right brush is the first step in effective brushing. While we highly recommend going electric, a manual toothbrush in the right hands can be just as effective. As long as it has soft, or even extra-soft, bristles. Medium and hard bristle toothbrushes are too rough on the thin tissue of your gums, and can actually damage your enamel as well. While it won’t show right away, toothbrush abrasion is a problem many people develop over time from using hard brushes and abrasive toothpaste. Also, the “hardness” of a bristle actually has more to do with how thick the diameter of each bristle is. Thinner bristles will get into those nooks and crannies much more effectively, and conform to those contours to make sure nothing gets missed. So the softer the brush, the more effective it will be and the less damage it could do to your gums! 2. BRUSH ONE AREA AT A TIME In dentistry, we like to divide the mouth into quadrants. That is, upper right, upper left, lower right, and lower left. For many people, quadrant brushing is a great way to ensure you’re not skipping any spots, and that you’re taking enough time in each area. Or, if you prefer, you could do outside surfaces up top, then inside surfaces, then outside and inside on the bottom. Whatever works for you! The key is to aim for thirty seconds per area, which is an easy way to make sure you do that full two minutes. Have you ever timed yourself brushing? Most of us feel like we are taking enough time, but really it ends up being only about 45 seconds. Not nearly enough to clean every surface! 3. ANGLES ARE EVERYTHING Just like taking a great selfie, angles make all the difference. Plaque tends to form along the gumline, in that crevice where your gums meet your teeth. To make sure those bristles (which are nice and thin, since you got a soft toothbrush, right?) get into the edge of the gums and really do their best work, try to hold your brush at a 45 degree angle toward the gumline, both on the cheek side and the tongue side. For chewing surfaces on those back teeth, point the bristles straight down into those little grooves. For the narrow areas on the tongue side of your front teeth, it may help to orient the toothbrush vertically. Especially if you have crowding, those narrow areas in the front can really be tricky. Vertical brushing there can help. getting your teeth straightened can help make them more cleansable by eliminating those tricky spots. 4. SMALL STROKES WORK BEST While long, scrubbing strokes might feel like you’re putting in the elbow grease to get things clean, remember you’re not scrubbing grout! Short, gentle strokes work best, almost like you’re polishing one or two teeth at a time. If you really want the gold star, after a few jiggles in one spot, which will stir up bacteria and food debris, use your toothbrush to scoop that debris down and away from your gums (an upward stroke on the bottom teeth). Just one or two vertical strokes pulling bacteria away from the gums really makes a difference. Then move to the next couple of teeth! 5. KEEP YOUR TOOTHBRUSH FRESH While it may be tempting to keep using your toothbrush for as long as possible and really get your money’s worth out of it, don’t. Your brush really should be changed every three months. For one thing, microbes can build up in the brush over time. More importantly, the bristles lose their efficacy the longer you use them. Their tips get distorted, and the bristles may start to flare or bend, meaning they’re not doing their best work anymore and could start to hurt your gums. Also, if you notice that your toothbrush bristles start to curl outward after a few weeks or months of use, you need to ease up on your pressure. A lot! Brushing should be done with gentle pressure and should not distort your bristles. Follow future blogs for more about how overbrushing can harm your enamel and gums. In the meantime, keep up the great home care and we’ll see you for your next check-up!

Braces are just for straight teeth and a pretty smile. Orthodontics always means bulky, unsightly braces. Braces are just for teenagers. Any of these orthodontic myths sound familiar to you? For today’s post, we’d like to bust some top ortho myths and show you why orthodontic treatment might be right for you. MYTH 1: BRACES ARE JUST FOR STRAIGHT TEETH AND A PRETTY SMILE While cosmetics are certainly a great benefit of orthodontic treatment, having a gorgeous smile is far from the only reason to consider it. Don’t get us wrong: it is one hundred percent acceptable to get braces because you want to improve the look of your teeth. That is allowed! However, you will get so many more benefits to your oral health than just straight-looking teeth. Before braces, most people’s teeth do not meet up properly, which can create traps for bacteria as well as worsen TMJ issues. Crooked teeth also get a ton more damage like chips and wear compared to straight teeth. FACT: ORTHODONTIC THERAPY HELPS PREVENT CAVITIES AND GUM DISEASE As we discussed before, plaque collects in hard-to-clean nooks and crannies. If your teeth are rotated, tilted, or overlapped, they are harder to keep clean. By straightening your teeth and getting them to sit together in a more ideal position, we can eliminate many of those plaque traps. That means less bacteria, less stuck food, and healthier teeth and gums! Orthodontic therapy can also help to correct certain speech and chewing difficulties. Getting your teeth to meet properly can take pressure off your jaw and help relieve grinding, clenching, and some TMJ symptoms. By relieving that excess pressure, we can also help decrease your risk for cracked and fractured teeth as well as bone loss and periodontal disease. MYTH 2: ORTHODONTIC THERAPY ALWAYS MEANS UGLY BRACES For many of us, the thought of an orthodontist calls up memories of the awkward nerd in 80s teen movies, their mouth laden with huge silver contraptions, maybe even headgear! The good news is, this terrible ortho stereotype has gone the way of the dodo. FACT: THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR ORTHO NOW The main two branches of ortho apparatus nowadays are braces and aligners. Braces, as most of us know, are brackets glued to the teeth and connected by a wire. However, unlike old-timey braces, there are tons of options for brackets now. They can even be completely clear! There are low profile braces, and minimally visible wires, too. There are also aligners such as Invisalign. This approach to ortho skips the brackets in favor of clear, removable trays. We’ll get into the details in a future post, but the main benefit here is that the trays are less visually obvious than brackets. This is a great option for adults who cringe at the thought of looking like a teenybopper at work. Which brings us to our next point… MYTH 3: BRACES ARE ONLY FOR TEENS False, false, false! Ortho is usually proposed at a young age because the bone crest holding the teeth is more malleable. That means it’s easier to shift things around. Sure, denser adult bone may slow your treatment down a bit, but you are never too old for braces. FACT: ADULT ORTHO IS NORMAL, & GROWING IN POPULARITY Adult ortho is not only common, it’s growing in normalcy more and more by the year. Sure, many of us had orthodontic treatment as teens. However, our teeth constantly shift throughout our lives. That means that at thirty or forty, it’s very unlikely that your teeth are still at their ideal positions. This is also about when we start seeing a lot more issues related to a bad bite. Wear on the teeth, chipping, cold sensitivity, fractures, cracks, TMJ pain, headaches, and on and on. So many of these issues stem primarily from misalignment. And they really start to show as we get older. Even patients in their eighties (yes, really) have benefitted from orthodontic treatment. It’s no longer rare or unusual to see adults going through ortho. Remember, at the end of the day, ortho is temporary but it can save you from some very permanent oral health issues. If you’re concerned about any dental issues, don’t hesitate to ask your dental team here at Anderson Family Dental if ortho is right for you.

Dental plaque refers to that layer of fuzzy, sticky gunk that builds up on your teeth. Not only is it unsightly, but it can also cause serious damage to your gums and even hurt your teeth. WHAT IS PLAQUE? Plaque is a biofilm. That means it is a complex colony of several different types of bacteria living together. The colony comes together to secrete a gel-like film to protect themselves as well as pass nutrients from one layer to the next. The longer you leave this film undisturbed, the more layers can accumulate. Each layer is a perfect ecosystem for a different type of bacteria, providing for each microbe’s specific needs. For example, microbes living in the top layers probably need some amount of oxygen to survive. But those way down at the bottom of the matrix, or in deep areas under the gums, are likely anaerobic, meaning they die if there is too much oxygen. DOES ALL PLAQUE HURT MY TEETH? Those bacteria living in the superficial top layers, the ones that are okay with oxygen, are usually the first ones to set up shop in your mouth. Many types may even show up mere hours after you brush and floss. The good news is, most of those are relatively harmless. Some even help us digest our food and may help protect us against worse critters! However, if you let those microbes start to build up, anaerobic bacteria may move in as well. These are usually far more damaging than the early settlers. They tend to produce a lot of acid as a byproduct of their digestion. In plain English, that means they eat particles of your food, same as you do, and after they digest it, they create waste. And that waste can be really harmful. HOW DOES PLAQUE DAMAGE MY TEETH AND GUMS? Acid is the primary reason people develop dental decay. Your teeth are made of a crystalline structure of a bunch of different minerals, something called hydroxyapatite. As this mineral is exposed to acid, some of the bonds between molecules start to break. Too many broken bonds in one place and the enamel goes soft. That’s a cavity. However, cavities aren’t the only way oral plaque bacteria can hurt your oral health. These bacteria can also attack your gums and cause infections. Even if they don’t attack your gums directly, their very presence can trigger an immune response. In many cases, gingivitis and periodontal disease is actually caused by your own immune cells trying to attack your plaque, but damaging your own tissue instead. WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT PLAQUE? I’m sure you can guess our answer here: great flossing and brushing, and regular dental health appointments! By keeping up with your cleanings and maintaining great home care, you can help to limit the amount of bacteria growing in your mouth, as well as prevent many of the most damaging types from taking up residence. Be sure to check back for upcoming posts about how to make sure your home care routine is effective and efficient!

You use it at least twice every day (we hope). But are you sure your toothbrush is the best fit for you? Here are our top three recommendations for choosing your ideal toothbrush. 1. FOR THE BEST CLEAN, GET ELECTIRFIED! For most patients, an electric toothbrush is a great recommendation. Electric brushes help break up sticky plaque effectively with less work on your part. They are less technique sensitive than manual brushes. Overall, we see less plaque and healthier gums when our patients switch to an electric brush. Keep in mind that battery operated doesn’t count! Those cheap disposable alternatives to an electric brush honestly don’t work better than a manual toothbrush. You’re better off sticking to the old fashioned option. However, there are a few to choose from. SONICARE A Sonicare brush is a great option. The vibration is so powerful it can actually disrupt biofilm up to four milimeters away from where the bristles are touching your tooth! That means it cleans down into those little nooks and crannies, and even a little bit between the teeth and under the gums.  Yet, it is still super gentle on your gums and is a top choice for patients with gum recession. Main complaint from patients on this brush is that it can trigger a little sensitivity from time to time. ORAL-B This brush features vibration and oscillation. That little circular brush head really gives a great scrub. However, the brush head can be a bit small, so be sure that you’re polishing each tooth across its entire height. This one works well for patients who are sensitive to the strong vibrations of the Sonicare. QUIP This newcomer to the field is really holding its own! This small, streamline brush does a great job as long as you’re willing to be attentive to your technique (which we will talk about in an upcoming post, so stay tuned). Main benefits of these brushes is that the replacement heads come mailed to you automatically every three months. Since I know most of us are guilty of using our brushes way too long, this is a major advantage. 2. THE BEST TOOTHBRUSHES HAVE SOFT BRISTLES We will get into details in that upcoming post, but suffice it to say, soft bristles are better. Ultrasoft is better still. The softer your brush, the thinner the bristles. Not to belabor the point, but those electric brushes from section one all have soft bristles. The Sonicare Diamond Clean even has extra-soft brush heads with diamond shaped bristles that break up plaque and debris even better. 3. GET THE RIGHT SIZE! A GOOD FIT MEANS A GREAT BRUSH Brushes come in all shapes and sizes. Try to be attentive to the size of your brush head. If your toothbrush is too big, it can be difficult to access all areas of your mouth. Too small, you’ll probably miss some stuff. This doesn’t always have to do with the size of your mouth as much as the range of motion in your jaw, or the length of your teeth. Your best brush head should fit comfortably all the way back into those hard to reach areas, and should cover about two teeth at a time. If you have crowded teeth up front, you may want to get something narrow so that you can really dig into those overlaps. Or consider orthodontics to make brushing even easier!

One of the most common questions your dental team hears whenever a patient comes in for their regular health check is: “Do I have a cavity?” It’s almost as though many of our patients assume they will get decay on a regular basis. (But since you’ve been flossing every day and brushing well, obviously that’s not you. Right?) If you’re concerned you might be experiencing dental decay, here are a few signs and symptoms to look out for. SYMPTOMS: DO CAVITIES ALWAYS HURT? Many times, patients will tell us they believe they have a cavity because a tooth hurts. However, it can be hard to tell one type of tooth pain from another. So how do you know if your pain is coming from decay or another problem? DECAY MIGHT MAKE YOUR TOOTH FEEL SENSITIVE Rapid shifts in temperature and pH can activate the sensitive nerves in your teeth. However, not all sensitivity is the same. If you have decay, hot or cold foods could really get your teeth talking. However, sugary foods like chocolate and acidic foods like pineapple frequently also trigger sensitivity due to decay. How can you tell if it’s just general sensitivity or a symptom of a cavity? Pay attention to whether you can isolate the sensation to one tooth, or even one particular area of the tooth. Also, if the symptoms feel intense and linger a little, it’s definitely something to let your dental team know about! DECAY MIGHT MAKE YOUR TEETH ACHE Sometimes, cavities ache without a trigger. So there you are, minding your own business, when you get that nagging feeling in one particular spot. It may come and go, or worsen with time. Random aching and throbbing is usually a significant symptom and something we want to know about right away. DECAY MIGHT NOT HURT AT ALL! However, just because your teeth feel fine doesn’t mean you’re cavity free. In fact, many cavities can go for a really long time—sometimes years—with no symptoms at all. It’s estimated that around 30% of adults in the US have active, untreated decay. Many of those people may not even know there is a problem. That’s why it’s so important to get your regular dental health checks! SIGNS: HOW CAN WE TELL FOR SURE? Have you ever taken a good look in your mouth? I’m talking good lighting and just an inch away from the mirror? If not, you may want to take a peek sometime. Sometimes, cavities are pretty obvious. You may notice big brown spots that look like potholes in your teeth. However, what about small areas of bright white chalky enamel? Believe it or not, that could indicate decay! What about those areas where the teeth touch, which you can’t see with the naked eye? Or cavities that don’t show on the surface but can completely hollow out the inner layer of the tooth? Not all cavities will show in ways you can see or feel. That’s one big reason we recommend regular check-up x-rays and full dental exams. That way, we can catch these developing cavities early in the process, which makes them easier to treat. Why wait for pain if we can prevent it altogether? Call our office to schedule your oral health check and get that clean bill of dental health. Let Anderson Family Dental take cavities off your worry list!

It’s hard enough that we have to hide our smiles behind our masks while we’re out and about. Don’t let stained teeth make you want to hide your smile once the mask comes off! Read on to find out some of the most common causes for stained teeth, and some great prevention tips. Just try not to blow out the camera on your laptop when you flash your pearly whites on that next Zoom meeting. MAIN CAUSES FOR STAINED TEETH Most of us are aware of those notorious foods and beverages that seem to really put some color on our teeth. Hot cup of black coffee in the morning? We’re looking at you. But there are far more dietary sources for stain than you might think. Okay, coffee, tea, red wine, these are the main offenders. However, berries (especially blackberries and blueberries), curry, tomato-based sauces, even raw greens can all stain your teeth. In fact, anything with rich, deep pigment can cause stain. Those cold-pressed juices? Super healthy, but also super colorful. That beet juice can actually turn enamel magenta! NON-FOOD STAIN SOURCES So basically, all the best foods will stain your teeth. But even if you ate nothing but white foods forever (we do not recommend that, by the way), there are other sources for stain waiting for their chance to strike. Here in Florida, especially in those hot summer months, we actually see an unusual greyish stain that shows up on a lot of kids and very active people. Give up? Chlorine! That’s right, that daily dip in your pool can actually stain your teeth by the start of the new school year. And of course, there’s the elephant in the room: tobacco products. Cigarettes, cigars, chew, dip, whatever the preferred delivery method, they all cause serious stains. Not to mention a host of other problems, but that’s a topic for another blog. Oh, and yes that other popular smokable product also causes stains. AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CARE In dentistry, prevention is always preferrable to remediation. This goes for cavities, gum disease, and yes, even stain. However, we would never tell you to cut out coffee completely or deny yourself the pleasure of a great glass of pinot noir. But there are a few simple steps you can take to keep the best things in life from darkening your smile. PRACTICE EXCELLENT PLAQUE CONTROL As you read in our previous post, great brushing and flossing habits will protect your oral health. However, they also help prevent stain! Plaque is very sticky. The more plaque you have on your teeth, the more stain will stick. If your enamel is squeaky clean, less color will adhere to it! RINSE WELL AFTER STAINING FOODS AND BEVERAGES A vigorous swish with fresh water can rinse away many staining compounds before they have a chance to soak in. So after your tea, your juice, or even after a nice long swim in the pool, have some water! This is especially important after a dark soda, which can not only stain but also decay your teeth. CHEW SUGAR-FREE GUM Similarly to rinsing with water, gum can remove staining compounds before they can soak in. Chewing also stimulates saliva, which further helps to cleanse your teeth and neutralize acids from food. Just make sure it’s sugar free! Don’t let tooth stain stop you from enjoying life! Taking these few simple steps will help prevent a lot of stain. However, you may still build up a little bit. That’s okay! Your dental team here at Anderson Family Dental can take care of it. Keep up with your regular cleanings as part of your stain control plan. And keep an eye on our blog for upcoming posts about whitening your smile as well!

We hope you’ve been following along on our TMJ disorder series. There is one amazing tool for treating TMJ pain and related symptoms like headaches which we have not talked about yet. BOTOX® therapy is a true game changer. MORE THAN COSMETIC, BOTOX CAN BE THERAPEUTIC! Most people know BOTOX for its amazing cosmetic applications. It can smooth out those wrinkles and take years off your face in a snap. (And yes, Dr. Anderson is trained in advanced cosmetic applications as well.) But did you know it can also relieve the pain and tension headaches associated with clenching and grinding, too? For TMJ disorders stemming from overused closing muscles, BOTOX provides significant relief. While it is not the main treatment for every type of TMJ disorder, such as arthritis in the jaw joint for example, it does help significantly for most cases. HOW BOTOX CAN RELIEVE TMJ PAIN AND HEADACHES The sore muscles, tender jaw, tooth pain and sensitivity, and tension headaches associated with grinding and clenching can be significant. By dialing down the intensity of those strong closing muscles, BOTOX can prevent you from unconsciously applying excess pressure. Think of it this way: all that tension in your jaw is like flexing your bicep as hard as you can and then just keeping it there. BOTOX can give those muscles a chance to return to a normal level of tension, a chance to relax when they should relax! Unlike cosmetic applications, therapeutic BOTOX will not completely paralyze those large chewing muscles. It only knocks out a few muscle fibers in the masseters and temporalis, where you are overusing them. You will still be able to use your jaw normally, it just won’t be overfiring on its own. HOW IT WORKS First, talk to your dental team about your concerns. If you feel like you are grinding, clenching, or experiencing other problems like headaches or cracked teeth (like we talked about in that earlier blog post), let our office know. Dr. Anderson is more than happy to talk you through the problem and determine whether BOTOX might be an appropriate treatment for your particular case. If you decide together that BOTOX will work for you, the procedure is a breeze. While we know most people are at least a little needle-phobic, even the most injection-averse patients find BOTOX to be super easy and pretty much painless. The needle is whisper thin and super short. It feels more like the sting of static when you pull on a wool sweater for most people. Also, while cosmetic BOTOX necessitates many injection sites to address the array of tiny muscles that cause wrinkles, therapeutic BOTOX usually only takes about two to four on each side (which can vary depending on your anatomy). It’s over in minutes. BOTOX in conjunction with a night guard can truly be life changing for many patients. However, be aware that it does wear off over time and may need to be reapplied periodically. The timeframe is different for everyone, but most people find that they can space out their treatments more and more as they go along. If you have any questions about BOTOX for TMJ pain, do not hesitate to ask! And if you want to know about cosmetics while we’re on the topic, we’ve got you covered. We look forward to helping you achieve optimal jaw health.

From jaw pain and tenderness to fractured and worn teeth, abnormal flexing of the jaws (called parafunctional habits) should ideally be treated. Night guards are a cornerstone in the treatment of grinding, clenching, and TMJ pain. WHAT A NIGHT GUARD IS A night guard is very similar to an orthodontic retainer in that it is an appliance that covers the teeth. However, retainers are usually very thin acrylic material. They do offer some minimal protection for the enamel by keeping the teeth from rubbing, but they do not help to prevent or relieve TMJ pain. A night guard should always be made of hard acrylic. While there are some over-the-counter soft rubber type guards out there, we almost never recommend those for grinding or clenching issues. That squishy, bouncy rubber material might keep your teeth from wearing or cracking, but it is very likely to make parafunctional habits worse! By giving your muscles something to work on, these store-bought guards can aggravate the TMJ muscles further and injure the joint capsule. Skip ‘em! WHAT NIGHT GUARDS DO Seems obvious, right? Night guards keep the bottom teeth from touching the top, thereby eliminating grinding and clenching and helping to relieve TMJ pain. There’s actually a little more to it than that. There are several different styles of night guard, each of which serve a different purpose or approach the problem in a different way. There are guards called deprogrammers, which aim to break the cycle of muscle spasms that cause grinding. There are flat plane splints which cover all the teeth and are appropriate for long-term use and for certain problems with the joint capsule itself. There are full coverage splints with anterior guidance, which means a full tray for the top teeth that helps guide the jaw into a healthier position. Spear style, Dawson style, Wilkerson style… Point is, whatever your TMJ issue is, there is probably a guard to address it! As a byproduct of disrupting your grinding, many patients also find that a night guard reduces cold sensitivity, headaches, and stiff neck. Talk about a multitasker! In general, the main goals of a night guard are: 1) to protect the teeth from wear and damage; 2) to prevent wear on the ball joint of the jaw; and 3) to relieve muscle tension and pain. There are other specialized types of guards for specific problems. Snore guards, for example, eliminate snoring by pulling the jaw forward and helping to open the airway. However, for patients with TMJ pain, these guards can do more harm than good, so they’re not appropriate in all cases. HOW GUARDS ARE MADE If Dr. Anderson determines that a night guard is an appropriate treatment for your parafunctional habit, the fabrication process is a breeze… Well, for the patient, anyway. It just takes a quick appointment to create models of your teeth and take a few measurements. Then, Dr. Anderson whisks your models away, does some amazing magic, and presto. After a short interim, you pop back in so we can make sure everything fits perfectly, and that’s it! (Okay, credit to Dr. Anderson, it’s a little more complicated than that. But he makes it look so easy!) Don’t let TMJ pain wear on you, or your teeth! If you believe you may be grinding or clenching, let us know at your next visit. A guard may be an easy way to protect your teeth and relieve your discomfort. And believe it or not, we have even more ways to find relief from TMJ pain, so keep an eye out for future posts!

TMJ disorder has a number of causes, and it can lead to more symptoms than just jaw pain. We’ve all been under some extra stress this past year, between COVID, virtual school, the election, and on and on. Many of us are also holding abnormal jaw positions while wearing masks for long periods of time. In many cases, that extra jaw strain manifests in tooth grinding and clenching. While it may not cause problems for you right away, grinding can lead to TMJ pain as well as a host of other dental issues. I DON'T THINK I'M GRINDING... Many people do not realize they clench and grind their teeth. If your loved one tells you they can hear your teeth squeaking or tapping at night, that’s a pretty good indicator. But what other signs do we look for that indicate clenching or grinding? One of the most obvious signs is TMJ pain. This may include sore or tender chewing muscles, especially the large closing muscles on both sides of the jaw. It also includes the fan of muscle that runs over the temples, as well as muscles that run across the base of the skull and down into the upper neck. Waking up with a headache indicates you may be grinding at night. And if you find yourself with a stiff neck frequently, you might also be able to chalk that up to grinding and clenching. SIGNS WE LOOK FOR IN DIAGNOSING TMJ DISORDER When most people think about TMJ disorder, they think about effects on the jaw. Clicking, popping, crunching, and locking are all indications that the joint capsule is starting to have trouble. But the effects of grinding can sometimes be less obvious at first. As Dr. Anderson examines your teeth, he will also look at the soft tissues of your lips, cheeks, and tongue. These tissues can reveal a lot about your unconscious habits. For example, if the outer edge of your tongue looks wavy (referred to as a scalloped border), it is a strong sign of stress in your jaw joints. Receding gums likewise point to clenching and grinding, as the constant pressure on the teeth can cause them to shift or flex slightly and push the top edge of the gums down, revealing part of your roots. Abfraction, which is a triangular notch at the neck of the tooth, also comes from grinding. TMJ DISORDER CAN HURT MORE THAN YOUR JAW The pressure from clenching and grinding may cause pains other than in your jaw. Sensitive teeth can often be traced back to a grinding habit. Sometimes, these habits can cause serious tooth aches as well. The ligament that holds each tooth in the socket can become inflamed, or the nerve of the tooth itself may become damaged over time. These can leave you in a world of hurt if you don’t nip your grinding problem fast! Apart from damage to your soft tissues and jaw joint, TMJ disorder can also lead to serious trouble for your teeth. All that extra strain on your teeth can cause them to crack and fracture. More than one root canal and crown has been the result of a long grinding habit. Not to mention teeth that break down so much that they need to be replaced with implants. Fortunately, you are in excellent hands here at Anderson Family Dental. If you think you may be grinding or clenching, or if you have any unusual tooth or jaw pains, don’t hesitate to let your dental team know about it! We will create a plan for fast relief. Keep an eye on our blog for more information on prevention and treatment of TMJ disorder in future posts!

With everything going on this year, most patients experienced some disruption to their regular dental routine. It happens to the best of us: that one cleaning got skipped because of the COVID shut-down back in April, and then you tried to reschedule but you had to get the kids back in school or try to navigate virtual, and now the holidays are almost here. Maybe it can just wait until next year. Those regular check-ups may seem like a luxury item in all the chaos that has been 2020, but we’re here to tell you why your dental cleanings are so essential to excellent health. REGULAR DENTAL CLEANINGS PREVENT SERIOUS PROBLEMS When you come to Anderson Family Dental for your regular cleaning, we’re doing so much more than just making your smile sparkle. We prefer to think of a cleaning as a comprehensive oral wellness assessment. Many dental problems are not painful or obvious until they have become severe. Regular check-ups allow us to identify and diagnose problems early, hopefully before they become serious. If we can identify a cavity before you start to feel it, Dr. Anderson can likely treat it with a much more conservative filling. This means less time in the dental chair, less chance of pain, and less cost to repair the damage! During your wellness check, we also look for signs of oral disease such as warning signs of oral cancer and HPV. If we notice early signs of gum disease, we can advise you on how to reverse it before it causes permanent damage like bone loss. Regular oral health assessments are the cornerstone in keeping your family’s oral health in peak condition. WHAT HAPPENS DURING A DENTAL CLEANING? Obviously, the main goal of a regular check-up appointment is to clean your teeth, right? But what exactly does your hygienist do? First and foremost, a hygienist’s job is actually not about polishing your teeth and making them look nice. Their main focus is on maintaining the health of the soft tissues of your mouth. That means that they are assessing the health and stability of your gums and treating or preventing inflammation. Even the best brushers and flossers in the world will build up some hard deposits, commonly known as tartar. Tartar is extremely rough and can cause microscopic abrasions in your gum tissue. This, in turn, can lead to swelling and bleeding. In advanced stages of gum disease, this inflammation can affect other systems of the body. (Stay tuned to our blog for more info on that in the future!) By removing hard deposits below the gumline, where you can’t even see them, your hygienist helps to protect your gums from damage. Obviously keeping that killer smile sparkling is also a goal, but cleanings are about so much more than that. If you have gotten a little behind on your cleaning routine this year, no worries. Call our office to schedule so we can get you back on track! Even if it’s been years since your last cleaning, there is no time like the present for getting caught up and letting us put you back in control of your oral health.

As you may be aware, Dr. Anderson’s son recently turned six! For dental families, six is an especially exciting age. When a child turns six, their permanent teeth might start to come in! PERMANENT TEETH START TO COME IN AROUND AGE SIX In most cases, and according to most dental literature, a few super exciting dental milestones happen around age six. First of all, most kids get their first permanent molars around this time. Surprisingly, this does not mean that your kiddo will lose a tooth! That’s right, our first permanent teeth come straight in without pushing a baby tooth out. That’s because these first molars will come in all the way in the back, behind the last baby molars that probably showed up around age three. If you take a close look, you’ll notice a ridge of gum tissue behind their last tooth. As your child grows, that gum tissue will expand along with their growing jaw to allow room for permanent molars to develop and erupt. So, it’s especially important to check the very back of your child’s mouth regularly, perhaps when you’re helping them floss at night. (Nudge, nudge.) If your child complains of soreness or they suddenly become picky about certain rough or chewy foods, they may be experiencing pain from those molars coming through. Just when you thought that teething thing was left in the dust. Also, it happens again around age twelve. Just a heads up. YOUR KID MAY START LOSING BABY TEETH AROUND AGE SIX, TOO! That’s right, there’s more! (Told you six years old was a big one for dental development!) This is the average age when most kids will lose their first tooth. Or two…. Or four. In general, the first teeth to get wiggly and fall out are the first ones that came in when they were a baby. For most people, this will be those two middle teeth on the bottom, followed shortly thereafter by the middle teeth on the top. And then you have that adorable “cartoon character who bit into a sandwich with a brick inside” smile. While the first permanent teeth to come in are usually those first molars, it’s not always the case. Sometimes the middle teeth fall out first! Which reminds me… PERMANENT TOOTH ERUPTION IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE While there are “standard” eruption patterns, they don’t apply to every case. If your child didn’t cut their first baby tooth until they were over a year old, then they may be on a delayed timeframe and might not lose a tooth until they’re seven or even eight! And that’s fine! (Most of the time.) There are also variations in the order teeth come in and fall out. Cross eruption patterns, for example, are not unusual. This means the middle teeth may not fall out first, but rather their neighbors. Keep in mind that eruption charts are general guidelines, but each child’s body has their own rhythm, so no sweat if they don’t follow the average. A child’s first loose tooth is a tremendous milestone. They get so excited and can’t wait to show everybody they meet! Just make sure they’re washing their hands before and after giving those teeth a wiggle. And tell the tooth fairy to hit up the ATM and be ready, because once the first tooth goes, there’s a mini avalanche soon after. There is so much to know about maintaining your child’s ideal oral health throughout their life. Keep an eye on our blog for upcoming posts about teething, care for baby teeth, and what to expect at your child’s first dental visit!